Late nite butt

I started a 7lb butt at 9 yesterday morning, and it was not done until almost midnight, man, what a long day (or night). I used a gas smoker, some cherry, mesq, apple for the smoke and a bbq mixture of seasoning, glued on with mustard and temp., at 225 to 250. This thing hung at around 150 degrees for 3 almost 4 hours. At about midnight, it hit 197 degrees and this old man, pulled it off the smoker, foiled it and stuck it in the oven, and went to bed. At about 6 this morning, I removed it from the oven and while un-foiling, it just fell apart, man, so tender, and the taste was great.
Rocky, a BBQ professional friend of mine, did mention you should start these at about 4 in the morning :roll: guess I know why now.
He said they all seem to do this, is there a reason why. BEAR

What you experienced with the 150 degrees for 3 or 4 hours is known as the "plateau"

This is fairly common with large pieces of meat especially brisket.. when the meat reaches 150 to 160 degrees it seems to get stuck in that position forever and a day and then eventually it will "wake up" and begin to rise in temperature once again.

There is a real scientific answer for this which I will not bore you with but it is something that we all deal with and you just have to figure it in to the cook time.

That does seem like a long time for a 7 pound butt.. of course with it being winter time.. that can have a huge impact on the smoker in terms of how efficiently it transfers/conducts heat and therefore affect the cook time of the meat dramatically.

Glad it turned out nice and tender for you.. sure hope you poured those good juices from the foil back into the mix after you pulled it

:cry: Uh, I may have let the pan go dry, just once though, :roll: OK, I'll watch that closer next time.
Sorry, I thought you meant the water pan, I also use foil in that.
Yes, all was saved from the foil wrap.